Toby's Nightmares
by KTtheLuvAddict
Summary: The worst type of nightmares are the ones that you cant wake up from...
1. Chapter 1 Midnight conversation

Sadly I do not own Labyrinth or any of its fascinating characters. They belong to Jim Henson, David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, and Toby Fraud. :)

Nightmares: Chapter 1

Toby thrashed violently under his bed sheets. The nightmares were too much these days. With finals coming up and his paper route extended eight blocks, he couldn't afford to lose any sleep. His sister Sarah had come home from law school for the week and was doing her best to spend as much time as possible with him. Toby hated to see Sarah under stress, but she had begun to notice the dark bags under his eyes and the way he moved about the house in a dream like state. "You need more sleep, Toby." She had said one evening as they sat on the couch together and watched game shows. "I'm fine." He had insisted, flatly. He couldn't tell her about the nightmares. She would want to talk about it and Toby didn't want to give them anymore thought then was necessary. He remembered how Sarah had always been with him. How she noticed every time he did something that was out of the ordinary. He remembered once when he was 6, he had stood up during family game night and preformed a completely improvised song and dance number on top of the coffee table. His parents had applauded and said that they could see him on Broadway, but Sarah had gotten a dazed look on her face and had excused herself to her room and none of them had seen her until the next morning. Sarah had always reacted oddly in those situations, but Toby was older now. He could take care of himself. He didn't need his over protective sister to get involved. Frankly, he didn't understand why Sarah was so over protective. His parents had once told him that when he was very little, around one or two, Sarah had been a brat. Sarah was only his half-sister and she had been jealous of the attention he got from their father. But that had all changed one night; they went out for dinner and a movie, leaving a completely spoiled rotten Sarah behind. And they had come home to a quiet, sensible girl whose first priority was watching out for her gurgling baby brother.

Toby woke in a cold sweat; he couldn't take these nightmares anymore. He flipped his feet over the side of the bed and padded out of his room and down the hall. He made his way to the bathroom in the dark and flipped on the lights once the door was closed. Yellow, artificial light flooded the small space, blinding Toby. He leaned over the sink and splashed cool water onto his overly heated skin. He was shivering despite his fever. He knew his immune system had been taking a toll and had probably given in. He couldn't get sick; he had been saving up to buy Sarah one of those glass owls that she had been so fond of. Getting sick would mean he would have to take the day off and someone else would have to cover his route and he wouldn't get paid. He stared at his expression in the mirror and tried to calm his breathing. His pale blue eyes shone out under his mop of sweaty blond hair. He didn't look anything like Sarah. She was beautiful with long dark hair and bright green eyes that seemed miles away at times. Toby looked like his mother Karen. Toby had seen the pictures in Sarah's room of her mother Helen. Toby shook his head trying to erase all thoughts of the beautiful actress that he had met at Applebee's on Sarah's twentieth birthday. He had only been seven at the time, but he remembered when Helen had looked down her nose at him and had said "Sarah, sweetheart, is this Karen's boy?"

"This is my Toby." Sarah had said fondly. Then she had scooped Toby up onto her back, just as he had told her not to do anymore since he had turned seven two months before. But he didn't complain that time. He remembered Helens critical eyes on him through the whole party, as though he was something to be judged just because he wasn't hers.

Toby was fifteen now and he had noticed the strange things that went on around him. He had almost hoped that his friends saw things like Goblins in their dreams, or heard quiet musical voices whisper songs in their ears at night when he was lonely. Toby didn't want to believe that he was different. That his strange musical talent or obsession with shiny things was something out of the ordinary. Okay, so maybe it wasn't an obsession, but his faltering willpower when it came to buying glitter glue at the craft store was something to be marveled at.

Toby flicked off the lights in the bathroom and made his way back down the hall. He stopped short when he heard the hushed voices coming from Sarah's room. He tiptoed his way towards her door and pressed his ear to it when he was close enough.

"I'm starting to worry about him, guys." Toby recognized Sarah's quiet voice.

"What is there to worry about?" asked a gruff voice in a hushed whisper. "He's still a child Sarah. Maybe he will change."

"I agree with sir Hoggle!" declared a second regal sounding voice.

"Agree." said a loud slightly monstrous voice.

"Shhh, Ludo." scolded Sarah. Then she paused for a moment and sighed "I don't know,"

"What's not to know, fair Sarah? He is just a boy. Who knows what the future holds?" said the regal voice.

"But, I've noticed the oddest things about him. Like, when he gets angry, or frustrated, he reminds me so much of…" she trailed off. Toby knew they were talking about him. They had to be. But the voices were all so unusual, like voices from a cartoon. Toby couldn't stand it any longer.

"Who do I remind you of?" he asked loudly as he burst into the room. He was hoping to see the owners of the voices, but instead Sarah sat by herself at her old cluttered vanity desk. She jumped up and spun around, knocking a few knick-knacks and make-up cases to the floor.

"Toby!" she gasped, stooping to pick up the fallen items. "What are you doing up? It's very late."

"Who were you talking too?" he asked, suspiciously.

"I wasn't talking to anyone." She said, confused. Her confusion was very convincing, but Toby knew how good of an actress Sarah was.

"I heard voices…" he said.

"You look very tired. Go back to bed and we can talk in the morning." Toby considered going back to bed, but he had to know who the voices were.

"Sarah, please tell me. I promise I won't tell mom and dad." He pleaded.

"Toby…" Sarah sighed. "Does it look like there is someone else in here? I was completely alone until you burst in, which I may remind you, was very rude. Besides, you have a paper route in the morning and you look like you might be coming down with the flu." Sarah's change of the subject was her way of saying 'end of discussion'. "Go back to bed and I might try to convince Karen to make us banana nut pancakes in the morning." Toby pursed his lips and thought it through.

"You're going to have to tell me sometime, Sarah. I know what I heard." And with that he spun around and marched out the door in a way that was so graceful, it made Sarah's throat close up in remembrance.


	2. Chapter 2 Story time

Chapter two. :) i hope its not confusing or anything. i always feel like im leaving things out. Sarah and Toby and anything else Labyrinth related belongs to Jim Henson, David Bowie, Jennifer Connally, and Toby Fraud. enjoy! :)

The next morning, Toby didn't say a word to Sarah. As she had promised, Karen made banana nut pancakes. Toby ignored his plate and headed towards the door.  
"Toby, you're not supposed to start you're rout for another twenty minutes." remarked Karen.

"I think I'm going to start early today." He said quietly.

"He doesn't look so good." said Sarah. She got up from her place at the table and walked towards him. Her dark hair was tied up in a loose bun on the back of her head; she was still in her pajamas. Her hand pressed against his forehead.

"Mom, I think he's sick." Said Sarah. Sarah only called Karen mom when she wanted something. It was obvious that she wanted Karen to keep Toby home. Toby wondered why.

"I can't stay home, Sarah." He sighed. "I won't get paid. Plus, I have a test today at school."

"You can reschedule it." Sarah said quietly. "I had hoped we could spend the day together." She said her voice dropping to a whisper. "Please Toby, we need to talk."

"Are you going to admit that those voices I heard last night weren't my imagination?" he hissed.

"Possibly, but only if you go along with being sick." She said, and he could almost hear the smirk in her voice. Toby nodded and gave a loud exaggerated and completely fake sneeze.

"Ma, Sarah is right. I feel like crap." Toby said thickly. Karen winced slightly at his use of the word "crap" but nodded and smiled.

"If Sarah thinks you're sick then I guess we will have to keep you home. Will you two be okay here by yourselves?"

"Karen," Sarah scoffed. "I am going to be thirty in like two weeks. Give me some credit." Karen laughed and mussed Sarah's hair affectionately.

"I suppose your right," she said smiling. "Give Toby two table spoons of the cold medicine I bought the other day."

"The one in the blue package?" Sarah asked. Karen nodded.

"But not until after he's eaten." Said Karen. Sarah assured her that she would make sure Toby ate a plate of pancakes even if she had to shove them down his throat. Karen gave them both a hug and pulled her coat on.

"I'll be home by four." She called as she headed out the door. The door slammed shut and Sarah and Toby stared at each other.

"So…who were they?" Toby asked. He knew Sarah would know who he meant.

"Friends," she shrugged. "Just, some old friends."

"Why were they in your room last night?" he asked.

"They weren't," Sarah said mysteriously. Toby rolled his eyes.

"I thought you were going to tell me who was here last night." He laughed.

"I am, but you have to understand that they weren't actually here. I can tell you who I was talking to though." Said Sarah.

"Ok, who?" asked Toby. He was really hoping that Sarah was telling the truth and wasn't going to use this as an opportunity to talk about his nightmares.

"Do you remember how mom and dad used to leave us home alone every Saturday night?" asked Sarah. Toby nodded. He did remember, but he always remembered it as a happy time. He and Sarah would stay up late and she would teach him how to play board games. Sarah had spoken of the memories as if they were unpleasant. Toby frowned.

"What does that have to do with this?" he asked. Was she trying to distract him?

"It has everything to do with this." Replied Sarah mysteriously again. "One night, right before you turned two; Karen and dad left me to babysit you." Sarah bit her bottom lip, as if the next part was embarrassing. "You were crying and I was a brat and I couldn't take it anymore…so I wished you away." She shut her eyes tight and knotted her fingers together. She looked like she was worried he would hit her.

"Wished me away? What does that even mean?" Toby was confused. Did Sarah have some sort of magical genie that she wasn't telling him about? Toby imagined Sarah sitting at home on the weekends with a magical lamp. If she could wish for things then why didn't she just wish that dad and Karen wouldn't go out? What did she mean by "Wished you away"?

"Sarah, what the heck are you talking about? I thought you were going to tell me about your "Friends"?" He was getting frustrated. Sarah opened her eyes and looked at him.

"You still like stories, don't you kiddo?" she asked. Toby nodded, so it was story time. He was starting to wish he had gone to school. Sarah grabbed his hand and pulled him to the couch. She sat down and when he didn't sit next to her she yanked his hand and he fell to the couch with a thump. She smiled and his mouth grudgingly turned up in the corners. "Once upon a time…" she began, and it looked as though she was marveling at the cliché. Toby felt like a small child again. Sarah wove an intriguing tale of a young girl who accidently handed her baby brother over to a magical goblin king. She talked of how the girl was told by the king to figure out a Labyrinth, how she took many wrong turns and made some odd friends. How she was tricked into eating an enchanted peach that transported her to a beautiful glittering ballroom full of beautiful glittering people. At that point in the story, Sarah's eyes became rather distant and she skipped ahead to a magical junk yard. Through the whole story Toby had to remember that he was the helpless baby sitting in the goblin kings castle with the smelly shrieking goblins. He didn't remember any of it of course. It was actually quite hard to believe in fact. But Sarah wouldn't lie to him about something like this. She would only tell him a story like this if she felt that it was crucial to some part of Toby's life.

"…and Sarah and Toby were sent home, leaving the Goblin king to wallow in defeat. The end." Sarah finished. Then she took a few deep breaths and studied Toby's face carefully. "Well, what do you think?" she asked hesitantly.

"What am I supposed to think besides 'dang, my sister kicks butt.'?" Toby laughed. "I always knew there was a reason you hated peaches. I'm not sure if I believe it though." Sarah grinned at him.

"I'm almost glad that don't believe it. It's pretty unbelievable." Sarah laughed. "But it's all true. The labyrinth is real. The goblins are real. And the goblin king is real."

"So…why did you tell me this story?" Toby asked. "I mean, I am glad that you did. But why did you tell me that the voices in your room were Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo. Why tell the whole thing and not just make something up?"

"Because you're old enough for me to be truthful with you. You're ok with that, right?" she asked. Toby didn't know what to say. How could this be true? Was there really a Labyrinth? Did he really spend almost thirteen hours with a magical goblin king? It all seemed impossible. But somehow…he believed Sarah. It had to be true. His dreams started to make sense. There were always goblins in them. Sometimes he would see dancing shadows and other times he would hear the odd cluck of a chicken. But he had never imagined that it was actually memories being replayed. Suddenly Toby felt sort of light headed. He got to his feet.

"We can work this out." Sarah said quietly. "You're not mad are you?"

"Of course not!" Toby exclaimed, bemused. "I'm just trying to take this all in."

"Toby, what you heard the other night…between me, Hoggle, Didymus, and Ludo. Well, that's what I really wanted to talk about." Sarah paused and took a few shaky breathes. She looked like she might pass out instead of him. Toby wanted to ask her to go on. He sat back down and placed his hand on her knee.

"You can tell me." He said. Sarah looked up at him and he saw that there were tears in her green eyes. Toby cringed inwardly; a crying Sarah was one he never saw. He suddenly felt bad for pressing her for information. It obviously was causing emotions that she didn't want to feel. "Sarah, whatever it is…just tell me." He pleaded. Sarah looked down at her hands.

"He's looking for you." She whispered. "Hoggle and Didymus don't believe me. But I know it's true. I can feel it."

"Who is looking for me?" Toby asked. "The goblin king?" Sarah nodded slowly. "But, why?"

"I'm not sure…" Sarah said carefully.

"I heard you say last night that I remind you of him." Toby said and he felt goose bumps prickle up his arms. Sarah met his gaze again.

"You do remind me of him, Toby. It's hard to explain. He was beautiful. Like someone from a dream." Toby saw the familiar dreamy expression pass over Sarah's face.

"Did you have a crush on him?" Toby asked teasingly, trying to change the mood. Sarah snorted and wiped at her eyes. Toby grinned at her.

"I didn't have a crush on him. He, however, was in love with me." Sarah didn't say it as if she was proud to have some mystical being in love with her. She said it embarrassedly. He cheeks flushed bright red. "I don't really know why. I used to have an old story book that I adored and I suppose I was just reenacting that. But I never dreamed that the story could be so real. I never fully understood how such a magical, beautiful person could be in love with a tantrum throwing brat like me. He offered me the world."

"But you chose to save me instead." Toby marveled. "Yeah, I would have stayed with the king." Sarah burst out laughing.

"I didn't even consider it!" She said. Her face became very serious. "He is looking for you though. I wanted you to know that before he caught you off guard. I don't want to wake up one morning to find Hoggle and Didymus telling me that he stole you away again. Be careful Toby. He's a tricky one." Toby nodded solemnly then patted Sarah on the back. Should he be worried, he wondered. Or was Sarah overreacting. Toby could take care of himself. She shouldn't worry herself. Toby stomach gave an almighty grumble and he looked down and gave it a pat.

"Alright sis, I think it's time for you to microwave my pancakes." He declared. Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She sighed. "I did promise Karen that I would feed you." She and Toby got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. Toby noticed that he was taller then Sarah. She noticed too. Her eyes narrowed.

"When did that happen?" she grumbled to herself as Toby waved his hand over her head.

He ate breakfast in silence and watched Sarah clean the dishes and put them in the drying rack. She hummed to herself and the tune sounded sort of familiar but Toby couldn't place it. As he watched his sister clean he noticed another pair of eyes fixed on Sarah. A large barn owl was sitting in the tree that stood in their back yard. The owl regarded Sarah thoughtfully through the window above the sink. Sarah noticed nothing but Toby thought he could see an almost regretful look in the owl's eyes. Before Toby could say a word to Sarah about the bird it leapt off the branch and flew off into the distance, leaving Toby feeling like he just forgot something important.


	3. Chapter 3 Don't talk to strangers

Sarah decided around noon that she wanted to eat lunch at the mall. "Sarah, mom said to stay home. I'm sick remember!" Toby laughed as Sarah forced him into her small car and tossed a bag of cough drops onto his lap. Toby hadn't ridden in Sarah's car in a while. It was filled with papers and empty coffee cups and the smell of hairspray and espresso was intoxicating. Toby rolled down his window and let the cool breeze wash over him. Sarah turned on the radio and sang along with the music. Besides Sarah's singing, they rode to the mall in silence. Toby watched the trees whip past the car window and was glad that he wasn't on a bike. The mall parking lot was pretty empty because it was a school day. They parked and walked through the automatic glass doors. Once inside the mall Sarah made a beeline for the food court.

"Toby, do you want to go to the comic book store or something?" Sarah asked after they had eaten enough Taco Bell to feed a small army.

"Nah, I'm not into comics. Or video games, or much else that sounds teenagerish." Toby shrugged. Sarah's green eyes lit up.

"What do you like then?" she asked eagerly, leaning forward in her seat. Toby chewed on his straw and thought.

"Books, I guess. I like to read a lot."

"I always knew you did." Sarah winked. "I read to you when you were little. But you also liked it when I would make up stories." Toby remembered Sarah sitting in his room at night and whispering stories to him under the covers. He smiled at the memory. Sarah's stories always made him feel like he was part of them. With a shock he realized that he was in fact part of one of Sarah's most important stories. The only one that was true.

"I have to pee!" Sarah declared suddenly, she was staring at her large cup of Mountain Dew as if it had insulted her. Toby wrinkled his nose and started to laugh. Sarah stood up and left towards the bathroom, her flip flops made a strange slapping sound in the partially empty food court. Toby leaned forward in his chair and stared down at the table. He traced the pattern in the fake wood with his finger. It swirled and twisted and he found himself getting lost in the trail that his finger made. Suddenly he heard someone clear their throat very close by. His head shot up and he turned in his seat. A tall man was standing behind him smirking. Toby looked at the man confused.

"Can I help you?" Toby asked. The man's appearance was strange. He didn't so much stand out as he did intimidate. He wasn't big or muscular. But he had a certain air about him that said he wasn't someone you crossed. He had a long sleeve gray v-neck shirt on and a pair of black pants. His hair was lighter then Toby's and stood up oddly in a lot of places. It suited him though, like a rock star or an artist. Toby thought he looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't place him. The man's eyebrow twitched up and his smirk became more pronounced. Toby's eyes widened when he saw that the man had pointy canines.

"You don't recognize me Toby?" the man said sadly, but his smirk said otherwise. Toby shook his head.

"Are you a friend of my dad's or something?" Toby asked, trying to sound polite. The man shook his head just as Toby had done and stepped closer. Toby stood and was a little proud of the fact that he was the same height as the man. They stared at each other and he noted that the man's eyes were two different colors. His right was soft yellowish blue and his left was dark, almost black.

"Who are you?" Toby asked, still trying to sound polite. The man tilted his head to one side and regarded Toby curiously.

"You don't resemble her, I had hoped you would." Was all the man said.

"Are you talking about my mom or my sister?" Toby asked. He turned and looked towards the bathroom, hoping that Sarah would appear and explain who this man was.

"I'm a friend of your sisters." The man said as an answer and for some reason, Toby doubted that. "I recognized you from over there," he waved his hand airily over his shoulder. "I don't expect you to remember me, it's been awhile, but it was good to see how much you've grown, Toby." the man looked closely at Toby again, studying him. He looked as though he wanted to say more.

"What's your name? so I can tell my sister that I saw you." Toby asked feeling awkward. The man's face softened and he looked like he was lost in a memory.

"Jareth," was all he said. "Tell Sarah that Jareth wishes to see her." And with that he turned and walked away. Toby watched him cross through the food court and disappear through the sliding glass doors.

Sarah returned from the bathroom, humming cheerfully to herself.

"You certainly took your time." Toby said, his voice sounded distant. Sarah raised her eyebrows.

"Those bathrooms were disgusting." Sarah shrugged, the gleeful smile still on her lips. "I complained to the custodian. She was ticked. She and the security guard were on a lunch date over in Jonny Rockets. You can imagine how upset she was to be torn away from him and his mustache to go clean wet paper towels off a bathroom ceiling." Toby laughed but his mind was other places.

"Toby, what's wrong?" Sarah asked. "Did you spill something on yourself?" Toby fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"No, I ran into a friend of yours." He said, Sarah picked up her cup and took a sip. "A really weird dude with pointy teeth." To Toby's surprise Sarah spat Mountain Dew all over the table.

"Sarah! What the heck?" Toby said, jumping back from the table. Sarah ignored him. She grabbed his wrist and yanked him towards her, so close that their foreheads were almost pressed together.

"What did he say?" she hissed through her teeth.

"Uh…Just that his name was Jareth and he wants to see you." Toby said wincing slightly at the way her eyes darkened.

"We have to leave," she said, snatching her purse from her chair. "Before he tries to talk to you again."

"Sarah, chill! He left." Toby said, hoping that Sarah wasn't going to drag him home just yet. "We haven't even gone to the book store yet. Plus, don't you want to go try out all the mattresses at Sears?" he asked, hoping his tone sounded tempting. Sarah's face stayed the same.

"Toby, I think it's time you met my friends." She said. Toby's stomach leaped.

"You mean Ludo, Didymus and Hoggle?" Sarah nodded tightly and pulled him by the wrist toward the exit.


	4. Chapter 4 Rearview mirrors and worry

**Sorry I took so long to update…I've been really busy *cough* lazy *cough*. And the really bad part of it is the fact that this chapter is so short. Jareth, Sarah, Hoggle, and Toby belong to Henson, Bowie, Connelly and Fraud.**

The days had begun to blur for the Goblin King. The fragile state of his mind, already tormented by his goblin subjects, seemed to be even testier these past few weeks. Toby. He needed Toby. If the boy was ever to fulfill his destiny then he would need to cooperate. Jareth knew that Sarah would not hand her little brother over a second time without an even bigger fight. He figured that that's what it would come to. A fight between him and Sarah. He smiled, showing his pointy canines, and relished the thought of Sarah coming at him, fists raised. Toby was more important to the kingdom then Sarah would allow herself to believe. In fact, Toby was almost as important as the goblin king himself.

Jareth conjured a crystal with a flick of his wrist and muttered some magic words into it. Immediately, it filled with an image. Sarah and Toby were sitting in Sarah's tiny car in the mall parking lot. Sarah seemed to be arguing with her rearview mirror and Toby was watching with a rather queasy look on his face. Jareth knew exactly what they were dong and exactly who they were talking to. He could almost hear the dwarf's angry rant as Sarah pleaded with him to help her. The Goblin King gave the crystal and small shake and suddenly his throne room filled with the voices of the people in the crystal.

"Hoggle, please listen!" Sarah pleaded. He voice sounded frantic. Jareth closed his eyes and concentrated on their voices and not what he could see in the small glass orb.

"No! I won't! You're just paranoid!" Hoggle said angrily. "Besides, you know as well as I that there aint nothing wrong with that there boy! If his majesty is snooping around then he probably has a bone ta' pick with you!" Jareth shook his head, eyes still closed. If only that were the case…

"Sarah, is there something wrong with me?" Toby's asked, sharply.

"Absolutely not! I just…I don't know. I think that maybe Jareth is more interested in you then he let on." Her voice sounded tired and defeated.

"But he made it seem like he wanted to see you…" Toby said.

"Ha!" burst out Hoggle. "I told ya' Sarah! The king wants word with you, not the boy!"

"The boy has a name you know…" Grumbled Toby. Jareth smiled again. Good, the boy had a temper. He would need that.

"I know he made it seem like that, but I think that maybe he was just using me as an excuse to see you." Toby began to shake his head. "Listen Toby! I think that the Goblin King came to you because you wouldn't know who he was. I think that he wanted you tell me you had seen him as a warning for us. He wants Toby for something. I can feel it."

"For what?" Hoggle asked. "Why would he need the boy?" Jareth swore he heard Toby role his eyes.

"I don't know…" Sarah sighed dejectedly. Toby took it as his turn to speak up.

"Sarah, if the Goblin King wants me then why didn't he just magic me away right then? Why would he want to give you a warning?" He asked. Sarah groaned and Jareth heard her head thump against her steering wheel.

"I really don't know. Maybe he wants me to wish you away again…" Jareth's eyes flew open and he stared into the crystal.

"Maybe the only way he can take Toby back to the castle beyond Goblin City is if I wish him away…" she honestly had no idea how right she was.

Sarah pulled Toby by the hand into the house and slammed the door shut. She spun around and locked it using the dead bolt and the little chain. Her head was pounding so painfully that she thought she might be sick. No one believed her. Of course they didn't. Why? Because she had a reputation for worrying way too much. Especially when it came to Toby. Sarah knew that if Jareth needed to speak to her he could have done so very easily. Toby and Hoggle may not understand it, but the fact that Jareth went to Toby and told Toby to tell him he wanted to see her was so completely unnerving that she knew she had to do something. If Jareth wanted Toby then he was going to have to get through her. She figured that it would be best to find out why Jareth was after her brother. But it really didn't matter. He could be trying to take Toby to Disneyland and she still wasn't letting that creep anywhere near him.

Sarah looked at the clock on the kitchen wall and sighed it was almost three. Karen would be home in an hour. Toby positioned himself on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. He was acting so nonchalant about this whole situation. As if he really didn't care. Sarah knew that the only reason for him to act like that would be because he was nervous. When he was smaller, if he didn't like what was going on, he would either burst into tears or pretend like it wasn't happening. He was all grown up now and he was a lot less likely to do the first thing, so it seemed the only way he knew how to cope was to ignore the problem. It was kind of disturbing, Sarah thought. The way his moods would change so drastically. Just a few hours ago he was pestering her for more information. But it seemed that now that he had that information, he was going to look the other way.

"Toby, what's wrong?" she asked, coming up behind him and placing a hand on the back of his head.

"Nothing." He said absently. _Nothing? Nothing, tra la la?_

She sighed and walked around the front of the couch. She plopped herself down on the couch next to him. This was going to be a long week.


End file.
